Into Darkness

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. I can hear everything. A vibration of noises sings a disturbing melody all around me. I feel as though something terrible has happened, but my mind is entrapped in confusion.

Am I sitting or standing; I hardly know. Everything is numb, and all I can see is darkness. I still have my memories. Fragments of a life before. A life I knew and loved.

I can remember sun flowers and their sweet smell drifting through the air. I recall the warmth of summer on my face. As I am pulled into the memories, I begin to visualize others that where there. Loved ones? I can hear laughing and singing. I see someone posted at the grill. The smell of caramelized sugars and roasting meat dance in the air. This is someone I knew, someone I loved.

Dad?

Slowly, the smell of fire begins to grow. The yard gets brighter as flames envelop everything around us. All of my comforting emotions are consumed by the fear for the people I hardly know. I immediately turn to them.

They are gone. No one is there with me. The smells are gone and colors fade to black. I am back where I began. I smell nothing. I hear nothing.

I try to move my body, but I cant. Am I paralyzed?

Out of the silence, an orchestra of noises consumes my senses. Buzzing, scraping, grinding. I begin to feel emotion again. What is this? For a moment I feel that I am not supposed to be here. Then, the whispers start.

I hear thousands of voices whisper in repetition. What they say I hardly know, but I feel the words as though I can understand them. They speak calmness. They speak peace. But it all seems wrong. A flash of light bursts through my subconscious and suddenly, I'm there once again.

I remember. The brightness of fire surrounds me. The earth is burning, and with it, peoples' ashes drift through the air. The earth around me is covered in blinding light. As meteors fall, I close my eyes and let the light take me. In this stillness in my mind, I sense something is there. I feel the rush of calmness settle around me.

I need to open my eyes. I have to see the end.

It's not something that is there but someone. I try to recognize who they are. They are cloaked and covered in white. I then realize a midst the chaos that they aren't human. Slowly, gliding across the scorched ground there are dozens of these same figures ushering people to safety. Is this real?

As the fragments of my memories begin to pull together, everything stops.

And then, I fall.

Into darkness I am plunged. I fall for what seems like a lifetime. And then suddenly I can hear everything all at once. The screams consume the void surrounding me; they're so loud. While I don't understand, I begin to feel anger, fear, and sadness. All of these emotions form into one encompassing me.

The whispers begin again. This time, they are different. They tell me to move. Somehow, without any control of my body, I stand for them. "Open", a whisper echoes throughout my mind. My eyes open effortlessly and I can see. I attempt to turn my head or move my eyes but I cannot. I can only look forward. I try to scream but my mouth won't open. I begin to reach for my mouth, but my arms won't move. I'm stuck in this battle with my body. However, through all of this, I'm still moving forward. I walk through a long, unfamiliar hallway. Everything is white but the lights are dim. A doorway stands open in front of me, and something in my mind makes me enter it. Rows of human parts are laid out before me. I want to be afraid, but somehow, I feel nothing. My body continues walking and my head looks to the left. I see something unnatural. Humans that no longer have flesh; They are metal. A man screams, clawing at a metallic plate where his arm once was. A machine lowers from above and begins to scorch off parts of him. After a few moments, nothing remains.

"Last moments", I hear another whisper. My head turns to the right, and there's a large glass pane. I peer through and see space. Swirling lights move across the darkness. Is this beauty? I can't remember. I take it all in hoping to feel any emotion at all. I press on, staring into the void; yet I remain numb.

My mind is pulled towards it.

Is this the end? I wonder.

"No."